Changing Web Hosting

[b4004040]

We're about to change web hosting providers and I'm wondering whether there's an "optimal" way to do this without losing any SEO value. Is it as simple as changing hosts without SEO in mind - point the domain to the new host?

[ske11]

There should be no issue, just make sure you have a back up of the site before you change anything.

Do not change page names and make sure you have the Robots txt file is on the site once you have moved

[b4004040]

What do you mean by page names? Titles of pages? And yes I'll make sure the robots.txt file is on the new host after we point the domain. Thanks Sean.

[ske11]

By page names I mean the URL, so for example

www.yoursite.com/about.htm must not be changed to www.yoursite.com/aboutus.htm or anything else.

There is nothing in the transfer process that would cause the URL to change but often website owners take the transfer as an opportunity to make changes that they have been planning for a while.

[ThompsonPaul]

As long as as the hosting change goes smoothly - i.e. no extended downtime during the transition - there should be no SEO impact.

The file that's even more important than the robots.txt is the .htaccess file. You need to make sure it's migrated to the new site as well as it could contain significant numbers of redirects that need to be preserved in the new setup. It's a frequently missed element if the hosting transfer is done manually.

Paul

[Brian-H]

Set up on the new server the identical site and test it works. You can usually preview the site via the ip or change your hostsfile on your computer so when you enter the web address it takes you to your new ip (but the rest of the world see's your old site still).

Get it all up and stable, check everything. All you need to do then is change the dns to point to the new server.

If you have a systems admin you can get them to change the ttl a few days before to a smaller number so that the dns transition is picked up more quickly around the world.

Some important rules:

• Don't do it on a Friday as you might need to roll back something if it goes wrong and you may need support staff who could be unavailable on a weekend.
• Give yourself plenty of time. More than you think
• Don't forget to update any email dns settings etc
• Make sure everyone is aware email might be delayed while dns is transitioning
• check your dns transition across the globe here http://www.whatsmydns.net/
• Don't switch off you old hosting for at least a few days maybe a week. Some websites may still be reading your old ip address and you never know you might need to do an urgent roll back to the old server if something nasty happens.

If you need a systems admin who can do this all for you I can heartidly recommend mine.